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The Relaxation Conditioning video was PERECT!! I know it didn’t feel like anything changed–it usually doesn’t the first time you practice it. In fact, Wager’s behavior might not change for the first 10-15 times you practice this. And that’s ok!! You have never done this behavior, as designed. And Wager is an older dog dealing with arousal and resilience issues. It will take time to rewire his brain for relaxation, so to speak. Please practice this daily for ten min in a quiet area of your home.
Ok, for now, lets not mess with the startline or the startline routine. Let’s focus on the skills in this class and we can explore how to incorporate them to help build Wager’s resilience.
Video 1-
There is a chance you asked her for her start button behavior with the Treat N Train still so close. It might have been punishing for her to leave the Treat N Train, meaning, she didn’t want to start the run again. We don’t really know because Callie can’t tell us. In the future, try setting it somewhere it’s completely out of the picture. This is a resilience issue- it was stressful that you removed it so that type of reinforcement opportunity was gone, and you placed it slightly off the line.Video 2-
What exactly was Shade’s advice? The tossing of the toy when she finally brought it?What does Callie typically do when you walk into a ring to train? Does she run around with the toy?
Video 3-
What do you typically do when Callie does this? I see that she keeps checking in with you.Does she typically go to the window as she did in this video?
So it is clear to me from this video that Robbie feels pressure about playing with the tug toy. He is not really grabbing it with the kind of fervor you would expect. It could be because of the leashing action, it could be the barking dogs, it could be that there is some anxiety around tugging from past experience.
Here is what I would like for you to do regarding the leash:
Desensitization/Counter_Conditioning To The Leash
Through systematic desensitization and counterconditioning you can help your dog associate his leash with fun. The below exercise should be ideally conducted over the course of a few days at home. Remember to go at your dog’s pace, keep the exercises fun and brief.
Repeat from step one each day, only use fewer repetitions to move forward as our dog becomes more comfortable.. Some dogs may be able to get through the first five steps in one day, others may only be able to work one step per day. Be patient.
If your dog backs away, growls, snarls or displays any sign of discomfort, stop and go back to an earlier Day, repeat for a week and then try again. If discomfort continues, consult a professional.You Need:
Very high value treats. Cooked chicken, mozzarella sticks, nitrate free hot dogs are some examples. Cut up into pea size pieces and put in a bowl or you treat bag.
A leash.Step 1:
Sit on the floor in front of your dog with the leash to your side
Lift the leash an inch off the ground where your dog can see it, feed a treat from the other hand, then put the leash down
Repeat 5 times.
If your dog runs away at the sight of the leash, bring a treat to the dog’s mouth to nibble while you lift the leash off the ground slightly, put it back down, then release the treat.
Repeat 5 times.
Step 2:
Repeat step 1 as needed
Lift the leash 3 inches off the ground where your dog can see it, feed a treat from the other hand, then put the leash down
Repeat 5 times
Step 3:
Repeat steps 1 through 2 as needed
Lift the leash 3 inches off the ground, hold for a count of 3, feed a treat from the other hand, then put the leash down
Repeat 5 timesStep 4:
Repeat steps 1 through 3 as needed
Lift the leash to the level of your dog’s chest to neck area, but do not move it toward him. Feed a treat, then put the leash down
Repeat, holding the leash up for 2 seconds before treating and putting it back down
Repeat, building up to holding the lash up for 5 seconds before treating.Step 5:
Repeat steps 1 through 4, you should be moving through these quickly now
Lift the leash to your dog’s chest to neck area and move it 2 inches toward him. Hold for 1 second, feed a treat and then put the leash down.
Repeat 5 times
Lift the leash to your dog’s chest to neck area and move it 4 inches toward him. Hold for 1 second, feed a treat and then put the leash down.
Repeat 5 times
If your dog looks uncomfortable, you are moving too fast. You might have to break down the steps further. For example, 1 inches, then 2 inches, then 3 inches towards your dog.Step 6:
Repeat steps 1 through 5, as needed.
Using the hand closest to your dog, hold a treat to his mouth to nibble. As he is nibbling, pick up the leash, touch it lightly to his collar for 1 second, release the treat and then put the leash down.
Repeat 5 times
Now reverse the order: Touch the leash to your dog’s collar very lightly for 1 second, feed a treat, then put the leash down.
Repeat 5 times.Step 7:
Repeat steps 1 through 6, as needed.
Hold a treat to his mouth to nibble. As he nibbles, touch the leash to his collar, open and shut the leash clip, release the treat, put the leash down.
Repeat 5 times
Now reverse the order: Touch the leash to your dog’s collar, open and shut the clip, THEN feed the treat, put the leash down.
Repeat 5 times.Step 8:
Repeat steps 1 through 7, as needed.
As gently as possible, using small, slow motions, attach the leash, feed a treat, then immediately detach the leash. Stay relaxed and breathe! Tell your dog how well he is doing.
Repeat 5 times
Attach the leash, feed a treat, wait 2 seconds, feed another treat, then detach the leash
Repeat 5 times
Attach the leash, feed a treat, wait 3 seconds, feed another treat, wait another 3 seconds, feed another treat, then detach the leash
Repeat 5 timesStep 9:
Repeat steps 1 through 8, as needed.
Stand up, bend forward and touch the leash to your dog’s collar, open and shut the clip, feed a treat, then move the leash away
Repeat 5 times
Remain standing, touch the leash to your dog’s collar, open and shut the clip, feed a treat then move the leash away
Repeat 5 times
Attach the leash for 1 second, feed a treat, then immediately detach the leash
Repeat 5 times
Remain standing, attach the leash, feed a treat, wait 2 seconds, feed another treat, then detach the leash
Repeat 5 times
Attach the leash, feed a treat, wait 3 seconds, feed another treat, wait another 3 seconds, feed another treat, then detach the leash
Repeat 5 timesStep 10:
Stand facing your dog and attach the leash. Hold the leash in your right hand, feed a treat with your left.
Show your dog you have another treat, and take one small step backward, hold the treat out and encourage him, using cheerful chatter, to walk toward you. KEEP THE LEASH SLACK.
After you have taken a few small steps, give him the treat.
Continue to work this way building the amount of steps you can take between treats.I would like for you to take 10 days to move through the steps. I would like for you to practice the exercise twice per day, for about 2 min. Always start with step 1, even if you are on day 4. Once you get to step 5, you can start with step 5 as you build to step 10 over the remaining 5 days.
Once you complete step 10, we can add in other components that will be part of your end-of-run behavior.
When practicing this exercise, I would like for you to sit on the floor and use people food- treats that Robbie LOVES.
For Relaxation Conditioning, can you sit on the floor with Veloz? If not, please sit on a chair right next to Veloz while he is on the mat. Place the treats on the floor, right in front of him. Do not toss it or drop it. By tossing the treat or dropping it, the mechanics cause more stimulation. Our goal is to have Veloz relax.
Do you have a Snuffle Mat? After two minutes of training any stimulating activity, I would like for you to pause and do some Snuffle Mat work. I am going to post it as an assignment in a couple of days, but I would like you to start now. Here is the exercise along with a video demonstration:
Snuffle Mat – to Help Reduce Arousal & Anxiety
Bobbie Bhambree
The scent is such an important component of how dogs experience the world. Allowing them to interact with their environment through their noses taps into an often-overlooked processing tool. Research suggests that sniffing promotes positive emotional affect, or in layman’s terms, sniffing makes dogs calm and happy. For dogs, olfaction is intrinsically linked to emotion in a very special way.
Snuffle Mats are not just great for enrichment, but can also be used as a tool to reduce anxiety as part of a behavior modification program.
Teaching the Game
• Sprinkle treats within the folds and crevices of the Snuffle Mat. Make sure to use treats that are stinky and high-value for your dog and can hold their attention.
• Place the Snuffle Mat on the floor and let your dog go to town.
• Before your dog is finished, or if your dog is standing and staring at the snuffle mat or trying to sniff out non-existent crumbs, sprinkle a generous number of treats into the Snuffle Mat again.
• Repeat this 4-5 times in a row.
• Practice this daily for a week so that you build value for the Snuffle Mat for your dog. What we want to see is that when you pull out the Snuffle Mat, your dog gets excited because they know what fun they’re about to have.
How to Use the Snuffle Mat
• Enrichment: Use of the Snuffle Mat can be one of the ways you provide mental stimulation for your dog.
• You can leave the Snuffle Mat for your pup to use when alone (if your dog won’t eat the Snuffle Mat).
• You can use it as a way to help reduce arousal when in stimulating situations.
• You can use it as a way to help your dog get comfortable with a guest visiting the home.
In this course, the intention is to use the Snuffle Mat during a class, at a seminar, at a trial, or anywhere else your dog has trouble focusing. You will be using it before you step into the ring.Once your dog has value for the Snuffle Mat, start taking the show on the road. Offer the Snuffle Mat at a park, in the Home Depot parking lot, outside of a pet store, or when you have people over who your dog loves. Does your dog focus on the Snuffle Mat the entire time he is in that environment? Does your dog look relaxed? Is he eating at a frantic pace or at his normal pace? Does he keep his head down the entire time while eating?
These questions will help you gauge how your dog is feeling and where his mental state might be. If your dog is eating at a frantic pace or cannot focus on eating out of the Snuffle Mat, then report back and we will tweak your dog’s program.
If your dog is relaxed and seems to be enjoying eating out of the Snuffle Mat, then you are ready to start using it in class. Again, ask yourself the same questions as those noted above. We will build from there. 😊Neuroscience – What’s Happening in the Brain
Dr. Kathy Murphy, Barking Brains
Olfactory neurons are specialized nerve cells that create a pathway from the nasal cavity, through an area at the front of the skull with holes in it (the cribriform plate) to the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb is an area of the brain right at the front tip of the brain, which processes the information and passes it on to other brain areas involved in emotion and decision-making, determining how the dog feels about the scent and what action will now be taken. Each olfactory neuron is densely populated with scent receptors and the olfactory bulb of dogs is proportionally bigger than that of species where the scent is not a primary sense (humans, for example).Interestingly though, variations in these important components are not thought to be primarily responsible for breed differences in scent workability, but rather differences in those brain areas responsible for determining how the dog feels about a scent and what action will now be taken.
So, what does this have to do with snuffle mats? Well, by creating an association between the snuffle mat activity and calm, focused attention we can train the dog’s brain to practice a state of emotional stability and attentional focus. These same effects (emotional stability and attentional focus) are known to be associated with mindfulness training in humans, the benefits of which are becoming more widely known. Once you see signs that these effects may be occurring (by asking the questions given above), move to practice in other slightly more challenging environments (with more distractions) to lateralize this brain training to other situations. If you notice signs that the dog is increasing in arousal (increased speed of movement, more frantic movement, a lack of calm focus on the mat, etc.), go back to practicing with fewer distractions. As with many confidence-building activities the main aim is for your dog to demonstrate the calm focus, rather than be good at the snuffle mat activity per se.Are you familiar with Leslie McDevitt’s Pattern Games? We are going to use the Superbowls Game in agility to help him have clarity and predictability. This will help build resilience. Are you familiar with this game?
The Superbowls Game will help us build his skills, adding criteria while keeping him engaged without shutting down.
Here is the exercise with a video demonstration:
Pattern Games: Super Bowls (Leslie McDevitt)
Step One: Teach The Game
– Set out 2-5 plates 6 feet apart.
– Place a treat on one plate and let your pup eat it.
– When your dog looks at you, walk to the next plate and place a treat on that plate.
– When they look up at you, walk to the next plate and place a treat on that plate.
– Repeat until you can get to the last plate you put down and back to the plate you started with.
– Once you can do that sequence 3 times, move on to Step TwoStep Two: Change the Environment or Stations
– Repeat the game in a very mildly distracting environment. Instead of using plates, use any station outside that is naturally recurring like park benches, trees, or lamp posts.
– If your dog engages with something in the environment before looking up at you, just wait. Let them process the environmental change before returning their attention to you.
– If your dog is unable to return to the game, they aren’t ready to be this close to distractions yet.
– Your pup must be having fun in low-distraction and low-stress environments before moving to more stimulating environments.For now, I want you to practice this game on the ground, away from agility equipment. After a few days in a row , we are going to put a plate or bowl on both sides of a jump, about 6 ft from the jump. When you go back and forth between the plates, do this with 10 treats only. Going longer seems to cause him to spiral upwards. Please take a video of this. 🙂
I think, for now, you should pause doing agility trials until you can help Murphy feel more comfortable and confident in the agility ring. I recommend you work on these games as designed, then start doing them in your class. Are you taking agility classes?
Also, read the threads of the working students so that you can see how the progression could look.
Amazing news regarding Relaxation Conditioning!! Can you post video of the next time you practice it?
Do you have a Treat N Train (Manners Minder)? Having the treat dispensing machine will give him something to target instead of coming back to you. When you are slow to pull out a treat (even a second), or he thinks you are going to give him a treat, he becomes frustrated and you start to see him spiral. Having the machine will give him something to focus on ahead of him, and the mechanics of the treat delivery is very clear for the dog.
Amazing work with the Snuffle Mat! Let’s try using your new Snuffle Mat when it arrives- 2 min of training, 2 min of Snuffle Mat, then 2 min of training, then 2 min of Snuffle Mat. This will help him start learning how to self-modulate his emotions.
Fantastic job with the Super Bowls Game! Practice this, as you did in the video, for the next three days, twice per day. As long as it looks as good as it did in the video, let’s incorporate them into the tunnel training as well as one jump.
Use two plates, one on other side of the tunnel and one on either side of the jump. You are going to move between the plates, but Gus will do either the tunnel or the jump.
Fantastic! Does Danny K know how to sit-stay at home? Is he calmer?
Please start practicing the Relaxation Conditioning assignment as designed. This will be a huge help for him. It’s like doggie meditation. 🙂
Regarding your post about IYC- that’s great! Likely the focus required for that game is shifting his state of arousal. If you think it works, keep doing it. Let’s include it as part of his startline routine. What is the current startline routine? Ritualizing events provides predictability, which builds resilience.
Relaxation Conditioning- can you take video of practicing it the way the assignment lays it out? I can observe you in action and then give feedback. It sounds like he didn’t learn to relax, but rather lays down flat like it’s a trick/skill. We want to focus on his internal state. I can help you modify it.
I would cover him with a blanket in the car so that he doesn’t react towards people walking by. Also, do you have a Treat N Train (Manners Minder)? You can leave it on top of the crate and press a remote control button as you are getting out of the car and walking into the store. You can press it a few times. Will he guard the food from your other dog from within the crate?
It looks like Wager doesn’t like doors being closed, period. Have you thought about tossing a handful of treats every time you close a door?
OMG Goretta! That is so stressful! And at home turf!! I am sure that is impacting Buoy. I hope the dogs that attacked are now muzzled when outside, by law. That is typically what happens.
I would rate the first two videos a bit lower than 8 because he did come back each time in terms of focus. Perhaps a 6.
Thank you, Elle! I meant in your subject line- where your name and Lola’s name are written. It also says introduction.
Ideally, you want to work on one dog at a time. Once the individual dogs can actually relax during the exercise, we can put them together to practice. Once per week, I have 5 of my dogs laying in dog beds in a semicircle and I practice Relaxation Conditioning. But I had to teach them individually, first.
I responded within the context of your post, copied and pasted below…
“OK, so I really don’t know what I will have at the next trial when I ask the judge to stay in the ring. In the past, once she saw the judge it was game over so perhaps I will have the judge stand 5 feet inside the ring and plan for her to “pass” the judge from very far away on her way to the exit. I assume we still want her to see/acknowledge the judge. That way assuming all goes well, she will be rewarded quickly after seeing the judge.”
>> Yes, ideally. Also, what does she do when she sees the judge from outside the ring? Do you ever hang ringside?
“Now, what if things don’t go well? What if she wants out as soon as she sees the judge? My plan is to see if she will give me a nose touch and then run out of the ring. Sound good?”
>> If she doesn’t want to go in the ring, just leave. Ask for the hand touch outside of the ring where she is more comfortable.
“On another note, when we go for a walk at times Journey seems to become stressed and wants to jump in my arms. I have been letting her do so, spin around in a 360 so that she can see everything in all directions, then place her on the ground and tell her to “go see the world”, which 98% of the time she does. The other 2% of time she needs another spin around before going off to explore. Just wanted to get your take on this. I was wondering if I might build it into our startline routine since she does seem to trust that all is well after her little survey 😉”
>> This is great! What usually triggers this behavior? A person, a dog, a sound?
>> Are you familiar with the technique called BAT (Behavior Adjustment Training). I was going to introduce this later in the course but I think it’s important that you start it now.
Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT)
This procedure was created by Grisha Stewart. When practicing BAT, the dog is allowed to explore the space he is in and assess triggers at their own pace. By working at a distance from which your pup feels safe, your dog is able to process what’s going on and then choose to move on without distress.
BAT is one of many techniques we can use to change the way your dog responds to triggers. Instead of barking and lunging, for example, your dog will learn to choose to do something else. We will progress at your dog’s pace as they learn to look and then move on.
The Procedure
• Go to a park or field where there are other dogs and people around.
• Make sure to stand at a distance from the trigger that is comfortable for your dog. Your trainer can help you discover the distance that works best for your dog—it could be 20 feet, 30 feet, 40 feet, etc. This is also called your dog’s Threshold. You will be working through triggers that are much farther away than the dog’s threshold because we want your dog to feel so comfortable, he can look and then move on.
• Attach a 30-ft long line (not a retractable) in place of your dog’s regular leash to his collar or harness (a harness is preferable for this technique).
• Give your dog slack on the long line. Make sure you are far enough back from the trigger that even if your dog gets to the end of the long line, he is still under threshold.
• Allow your dog to lead you around, but don’t let him get closer to the trigger. Just let him sniff and explore. He should be moving along curved paths, do not let him bee-line towards a trigger.
• Let’s say your dog’s trigger is another dog. If you see another dog in the distance, continue to follow your dog in the direction he wants to go. He might look up and notice the dog. Give him as much time as he needs to observe the dog. You are far enough away that you both will be fine. Allow your dog to meander and move freely.
• If your dog starts to pull towards the dog, gently slow him down with the leash. Guide him in a different direction. Feel free to call his name to redirect his attention.Things to Keep in Mind
• BAT is intended to be boring. An entire session might look like your dog is sniffing looking for a place to eliminate or following a scent.
• Leash skills for long line work is an important part of BAT work. Review the article on BAT for long line handling.Here are two video examples of BAT. I kept saying Behavior Adjustment Treatment, but that’s wrong—it’s Behavior Adjustment Training. Sorry about that!
Maggie was my foster dog that lived with me for 5 months. This video was taken within the first couple of weeks of her living with me. I gave Maggie treats whenever she disengaged from a trigger. You don’t have to do this—Maggie was still new to me so I wanted to give her as much help as possible.
This video is of a client of mine that lives in New York City. We are practicing BAT in Central Park. Cyrano is fearful of strangers and unfamiliar dogs. This video was taken after working with Cyrano for several weeks using a variety of techniques. BAT would not have worked for Cyrano early in his behavior modification program because he was severely fearful of living in New York City. After two months on medication as well as progress in his behavior modification program, Cyrano was ready for BAT.
